Various electrical devices and computing systems, such as network routers, utilize printed circuit boards or other removable modules. Printed circuit boards generally have one or more connecters that couple with a socket or receptacle. The connectors often include a plurality of discrete elements, such as pins or tabs. Similarly, the socket or receptacle will include a corresponding number of recesses to receive each of the pins or tabs.
Properly inserting a printed circuit board into an electrical device can often be a tedious and difficult task. Each individual pin or tab, for example, requires a certain amount of force to properly seat the printed circuit board into the socket. The total force required to seat the printed circuit board or other module includes the cumulative sum of the forces required to seat each individual pin or tab. Thus, as the number of pins or tabs increase, the force required to seat the printed circuit board likewise increases. Similarly, the extraction of printed circuit boards or other devices from such systems often requires a relatively large amount of force, typically about 75-80% of the force required for insertion.
To assist in the insertion and extraction of circuit boards and other modules, some systems provide various mechanical aids. Conventional mechanical aids include, for example, levers or threaded members, such as alignment screws. The threaded members are typically attached to the circuit board and align with a corresponding threaded connector coupled with the system.
In general, larger mechanical aids may provide a greater mechanical advantage, facilitating easier insertion and extraction of circuit boards or other modules. However, many devices require a plurality of printed circuit boards or other removable modules. For example, a network router may include ten or more removable circuit boards. In order to conserve space, such devices are generally designed to mount printed circuit boards or other removable modules close together. Accordingly, the space surrounding such modules may restrict the size of the mechanical aids and, therefore, the mechanical advantage they provide.
In other words, problems associated with these mechanical aids include the practical limits of the amount of force they can apply, the difficulty in manipulating these aides, and placing relatively large aides in small spaces. The same mechanical aids are often used for both insertion and extraction and may have the same problems and drawbacks in either case.